A Purple Gem that looks pink to me..

I'm really pleased with this dahlia, it's called Purple Gem. I can see that the flower bud looks purple-ish but the open flower looks decidedly pink to me. Anyway, whatever it's called, I like it!

A girl can never have enough bunting!

I had some Amy Butler charms left and I love their impact all together. I decided that it was either quilt or bunting, and bunting won. Probably something to do with the fact that it's quicker to make, I still haven't finished the last quilt yet, and I needed some instant sewing therapy!

Anyway I reckon a girl can never have enough bunting.

Anyone for waitress service?

I finally finished my latest apron. I now have one for christmas, one wintry one, and one summery version!
 A 'boy' version has now been requested too so I will have to think on that one.
I love the Amy Butler fabrics that came in a charm pack (used for the petals), and they just happen to match in rather well with some lovely lanterns that I found on a trip to Totnes yesterday..

Sleeping Nellies in the apple tree..

I used the very last of my last years lavender supply today to make a couple of Smelly Nellies requested by family. Luckily this years lavender is flowering well so I will be able to restock.

I am doing some experimenting with a summer apron and an Amy Butler charm pack that I couldn't resist. Hopefully show you more later this week.

Also the 'Leaves in the Breeze' is nearly ready for binding (I told you that my bigger quilts take a while!!).

Rainy days and visitors.

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Not much sewing going on around here this week due to work and visitors. Much needed rain has been soaking the garden and the beans are now at the top of the poles.
I needed a bit of bright colour so it's pavlova for pud!

There's a Snake in my boot!

Sidwell is enjoying the return of the sunshine and so am I!

Sidwell Snake..

Here he is. It is a very wet weekend here so the photos are not great but you can get the gist.

I started with a pattern for a knitted snake found in this old book that my Dad used, to make me a dolls house *!? years ago. The book is coming appart at the seams, but I did a search on Amazon and you can still get it!

I used the pattern piece for the head enlarged 200%. I then cut out various pieces of
6.5 inch width rectangles from my stash and sewed them together, shaping the tail end.  

The stuffing of the long body was a bit tricky but after a bit of help from a garden cane I managed.

 

And Sidwell Snake was born..

I think he may need to get out in the garden when the rain stops.

'Ssssmashing!'

Arabian Night.

The first Dahjlia is out and still standing despite the downpours of rain we have had today. It is a beautiful colour and is called Arabian Night..

There are also some self sown freebies in the gravel around the patio which have just come out..



If I had sown them myself they wouldn't be out for weeks yet so they are a bonus.

On the sewing front, I am doing some experimenting with a snake which I rashly promised my friend's son for his birthday..will let you see soon!

Birthday Badges.

I have always loved the crowns made by Amanda over at Soulemama but mine are probably a bit big for those now. We do have a bit of a birthday tradition over the past few years though, which is a Birthday Badge. In the past they have been restricted to girl badges but I decided that boys could have badges too, so Bob the Blob was created...

I will let you know how he was received after the weekend!

The girl badges were far more tame or at least they were initially..

They are really fun to make and only take two ticks.

Two of a kind.

 

I have been working on this cushion this weekend and finished it off today. It's made the same way as all the others and the fun is really in the front panel. I start by creating a patchwork background, in this case in the green. Then I cut a few circles and muck around with them until I am am happy and pin them roughly in place.

Then I applique the circles by hand turning under the edges as I go. I cut a piece of wadding and a piece of backing fabric (in this case a recycled pillow case) and layer them together before doing some hand quilting here and there to hold it all together and start to develop the 'picture'.

Then I add in some free machine quilting to jazz it up a bit.

I cut two rectangles for the back of the cushion and layer it all up before sewing around the edge. I like the way the reverse of the front panel looks at this point!!

 

Zig zag around the edge to stop it fraying and turn it the right way out and press.
And voila! Two of a kind.

And just in case you thought I had completely forgotten the quilt, it's still coming on but rather slowly!!
My weekend wasn't half as exciting as my friend's mad ferret experience, if you need a laugh read on here!

(I really love the sisyrinchium. It's just come out.)

Inspiration..

I received a little package of postcards last week from my Mum who went to a Janet Bolton workshop at Cowslip. I went to a similar workshop 2 years ago and really enjoyed listening to Janet tell her story and learnt alot about her techniques. I think she was the one who really got me hooked on applique. I got one of her books, Textile Pictures, last year. It is a lovely book written in both English and French, and full of inspirational pictures as well as an explanation of how they are created.

We all created our own pictures and mine lives on the wall in my sewing room..

A great workshop I could thoroughly recommend if you get a chance!

I also got a couple of fat quarters (well it was my birthday!) and Mum said she thought the black would look good with a splash of orange, so I thought geum, tagetes or snap dragon, or maybe all three?!

Elderflower cordial.

It's that time of year again and the elderflowers are out. Time to make a bottle or two of elderflower cordial. I use a very easy recipe that I found here. It is pretty quick although does take 5 days to 'brew', but it is worth it. We drink it with fizzy water and ice which is perfect for a hot summers day!

A trip to the beach.

We had a lovely trip to the beach this week and I took my phone in it's new case. It attached really well to the camera case and I didn't lose it or drop it in any rock pools!